Minutes of the 32nd meeting of the Museum Council, 13 September 2004, 11:30-13:30, National Gallery of Iceland, Laufásvegur 12, 101 Reykjavik
Present were: Ólafur Kvaran, Margrét Hallgrímsdóttir, Gísli Sverrir Árnason, Sigrún Ásta Jónsdóttir and Rakel Halldórsdóttir. Jón Gunnar Ottósson announced his absence.
1. The minutes of the 31st meeting will be signed at the next meeting. The minutes of the 29th and 30th meetings await further signing at the next meeting.
2. Report of the Executive Director. The Executive Director reported on the activities of the Council since the last meeting.
Papers were presented that were processed by Per Capsulan between meetings, but they concerned the granting of permits for the temporary export of cultural property from the country.
The Minister of Culture and Tourism travelled to South and East Iceland last August to visit the main museums and centres in the region. The Herring Museum in Siglufjörður and the Hvoll Regional Museum, Dalvík in the north were also visited.
ÓK proposed that the Minister of Culture visit the Norwegian Museum Foundation in the near future.
A letter has been received from the Ministry of Culture in which the Ministry approves that the Museum Council apply for an identification number for the Museum Fund. The Council approved applying for an identification number for the fund.
The Icelandic Museums and Archives Association's mobile school will be held November 10th - 12th, and the Museums Council will hold a symposium on the Museums Act on the first day of the mobile school in collaboration with FÍSOS.
Discussion continued on the publication by the Museum Council and it was agreed that the Minister of Culture would draft an information manual for museums on further details and criteria based on the Museums Act.
A possible Museum Council conference in the spring or fall of 2005 was discussed, where the government's cultural policy would be discussed. Discussion about the conference will continue at the next meetings of the council.
3. María Júlía BA36. Jóhann Ásmundsson's idea of establishing a museum directory about the ship María Júlía BA36 was discussed. It was agreed that the Board of Trustees would send a notice to the museum list, emphasizing that museums that jointly apply for project funding for a collaborative project would not thereby forfeit funding for projects related to their own activities.
The Minister of Culture was instructed to check on the progress of matters regarding the Boat Protection Fund, which is being formulated according to the Ministry of Culture. It was discussed that the Minister of Culture would first contact Ágúst Georgsson at the National Museum to learn about the status of the matter and then send the Ministry a letter in which the Museum Council encourages the fund to be established as soon as possible.
4. Hafnarfjörður Museum's application for a foundation grant for housing. The Museum Board approved housing according to Article 11 but did not take a position on the purchase price of the property.
5. Allocation 2004 – ASÍ Art Museum, Akureyri Art Museum. It was agreed, based on new information following a visit by the chairman and vice-chairman to the ASÍ Art Museum, to grant the museum 300 thousand. ISK in project funding from the Museum Fund in 2004. A legal assessment has not yet been received from the Ministry of Culture regarding the possibility of the Museum Council to refer to the ICOM international code of ethics in justifying decisions. The Council agreed that it was fully entitled to refer to the ICOM code of ethics in decisions and agreed to deny the Akureyri Art Museum a grant from the Museum Fund in 2004. The Council considered that the operational arrangements of the museum according to the current service agreement with Art.is were at odds with Article 2 of the ICOM Statutes, which defines a museum, and that ignoring that statute was not within the Council's power.
6. Act No. 105/2001. The Minister of Culture presented his examination of the possible scope of the implementation of Act No. 105/2001. It turned out that little or none of Icelanders' cultural assets, other than antiques, fall under the Act (for example, almost none of the art objects), as the Act's price criteria are unrealistic compared to the market price and insurance value of Icelandic art objects. It was agreed that the Minister of Culture would send a letter to the Ministry of Education and Culture expressing the Council's willingness to cooperate on revising the Act with more realistic criteria.
Procedures for the export of cultural property were approved. The procedures will be made available on the council's website and to those applying for temporary export permits.
7. Annual Report of the Museum Council 2003. The Chairperson presented a draft of the Museum Council's annual report for 2003, the first annual report of the council. It was agreed that the Chairperson would complete the report and that the council members would approve it via email. It was agreed that the Chairperson would write a short introductory article with the report, outlining its main points. It is requested that the introductory article be published in Morgunblaðið, before the report is distributed to museums, officials, politicians and the media in full.
8. Next meeting and other matters. It was decided to meet next on October 7th in conjunction with the Museum Council's 2004 field trip to the North. The Chairperson will choose a suitable date.
There was no further discussion and the meeting adjourned at 1:30 PM/RH.